Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates has said artificial intelligence could transform healthcare delivery across Africa by improving efficiency and expanding access to quality care, particularly in countries facing severe shortages of health workers.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Friday, Gates said AI is already entering health systems “all the way down to the level of the patient,” allowing people to describe their symptoms in local languages and receive better care.
“So the patient is able to talk in their local language and describe what’s going on,” Gates said.
Gates made the remarks while discussing the Horizon 1000 initiative, a 50-million-dollar project launched in partnership with OpenAI and the Gates Foundation to support 1,000 primary healthcare clinics across Africa.
He said the initiative is designed to improve care quality and, where possible, double clinic efficiency by reducing paperwork and better organising medical resources.
“The goal is to make the work there much higher quality and, if possible, twice as efficient as it is today,” Gates said.
According to him, artificial intelligence can ease pressure on overstretched health workers by handling administrative tasks and supporting diagnosis in health systems with limited personnel.
Rwanda is set to be the first beneficiary of the initiative. Gates described the country as a strong partner, noting that similar work would later extend to Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria.
Rwanda’s Minister of ICT, Paula Ingabire, said technology now sits at the core of national policy and service delivery.
“For us, technology is central to everything that we do,” Ingabire said.
She highlighted the use of AI-enabled drones to map malaria hotspots, predictive modelling to identify breeding sites, and AI-powered ultrasound tools to improve maternal healthcare outcomes.
Ingabire said community health workers, who manage the majority of malaria cases annually, are being equipped with AI decision-support tools to improve diagnosis, treatment and prevention.
“If diagnostics is one of the biggest pain points, then the question becomes where AI and other emerging technologies can help solve that,” she said.
Beyond healthcare, Ingabire said Rwanda is applying similar AI-driven approaches in agriculture and education to address supply shortages, demand forecasting and service delivery gaps.
Gates expressed optimism that rapid AI adoption could allow developing countries to leapfrog traditional systems.
“I would expect developing-world health may even get ahead of the rich world because the need is so great and governments are embracing this,” he said.
Triumph Ojo
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